A Knowledge Differential Creates a Power Differential

September 30, 2021

You’ve heard the cliché a million times: knowledge is power.

The reason it’s a cliché and the reason you’ve heard it a million times throughout the course of your life is because it’s true.

Often, when we think of power, or people in positions of power who are interested in maintaining their power, we imagine them doing so by force—people who have armies and weapons and they aren’t afraid to use them on anyone and everyone who dares disobey them or steps out of line.

But that illustration of maintaining power is mostly found in Hollywood movies.

In reality, most people with power don’t actually need weapons and force to maintain it. They can actually maintain their power far more effectively with their own knowledge.

How is that possible? Aren’t most grown adults reasonably knowledgeable? Yes, but that still doesn’t change the fact that a power differential is created by a knowledge differential.

That’s a semi-fancy way of saying: People who know more about what’s going on are better able to control those who don’t know as much about what’s going on.

I still remember the very first time I recognized this at play in my church.

At the very early stages of what became my faith deconstruction, I dedicated time to finally learning what the Bible actually said and making my faith my own. That involved reading the entire Bible and studying sources outside of the Bible to get a full, three-dimensional view.

One of my good friends was attending seminary for his Masters of Divinity so he could pastor churches. I figured he’d be a great person to hit up for some resources to complement my Bible studying. He was delighted I asked and emailed me the PDF version of one of his textbooks.

On literally page fucking one the author of the textbook goes on to talk about the book of Genesis as a metaphorical story.

This friend and I attended the same church and both served as youth leaders there. This church did not teach a metaphorical interpretation of Genesis.

I messaged him to ask about this and how he reconciled what he was learning in seminary with what he was teaching to the youth at our church, and presumably what he planned to teach to thousands more people after he began working as a pastor.

And he side-stepped my question like a pro.

This friend did go on to work as a pastor. He still does to this day. As I predicted, he’s not teaching a metaphorical interpretation of Genesis, but a literal one.

I realized that these pastors with high-level degrees from major seminaries actually do learn some factual information about the Bible (that Genesis didn’t literally happen, for example). But then they turn right back around and teach a literal version to their future congregations. Why? Because the idea of Biblical inerrancy is a very powerful tool that keeps people within the trap of fundamentalist religion. I know from personal experience that once one part of the Bible is deemed metaphorical, the question of what else is metaphorical must be asked. What results, more often than not, is a complete departure from religion altogether.

In this instance, a knowledge differential creates a power differential. The pastors know the Truth of the matter, withhold it for the purposes of keeping their congregations ignorant, complacent, and unquestioning so they keep showing up on Sundays.

Here’s another.

Church leaders know very well how emotional manipulation works. They know that if they play specific music accompanied with the right lighting effects, then they can create an atmosphere that will make their congregation feel a certain way—a way that these leaders want to manufacture. All worship services across the world look very similar because these pastors come together and discuss this. They all emulate each other.

Meanwhile the congregation—who has no idea how emotional manipulation works—thinks they’re having an experience with God. Not only do they feel it, they’re outright told by the pastor that what they’re experiencing is God. They’re told this despite the pastor knowing for a fact that he’s purposely using emotional manipulation techniques to get the emotional response that he desires from his congregation.

Another strong way the Church maintains a power differential with a knowledge differential is by burying the Church’s own history. Most fundamentalist Christians will parrot common refrains such as “the Church is a place of love” or “the Church is a place of peace.” Eh, wrong. They’re only saying this because this is what they’ve been told by their pastors. But these same pastors know very well the bloody history of Christianity, particularly the Catholic church. If the Church was truly a place of love and peace, then no one would have to repeat it as often as they do.

Myself and others who have deconstructed their faith and left the Church are now living a life in which the Church no longer has any power and influence over their lives. How was that achieved? Not by taking up arms and waging a literal war against the local church. Not by getting in a fist fight with the pastor because he was blocking the exit.

No, you remove the church’s power by gaining new knowledge. Once you become knowledgeable about what church leaders have already known for a long time, you can see their techniques for what they are. Once that occurs, there’s no unseeing them. There’s no going back.

Armed with this new knowledge, you can boldly walk out one Sunday and never look back.

As always, I must also remind you that deconstruction is not only limited to religion. You can—and should—deconstruct literally every other aspect of your life: your government, your culture, your politics, and your job just to name a new. You’ll find numerous instances where there’s a knowledge differential between those in charge and the general population, also resulting in a power differential.